Working shifts

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Dezieagle

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi I wonder if anyone has had any experiances or can offer advise in this field ,my wife 43 years old who has type 1 diabetes from childhood she works part time for the last 22 years has a carer and is generally well controlled apart from when her routine changes or she is stressed.Anyway her employers are asking her to change her contract from mornings only to evenings up to 10pm ,she is refusing with my support on the grounds that a routine change would effect her control,bearing in mind the change in shift pattern could be any random evening 2-3 nights a week with no lunch break,so the employer is sending her to ocuppational health to prove if she can work shifts.
We are getting increasingly worried has this could end my wifes career of 22 years beacuse she refuses to change her contract .
Any help and advise would be welome has I feel this is so unfair.
 
Hi Dez and welcome to the forum, does she have a contract that should state her hours of work, if you one but cant find one you are entitled to ask for one from your employer. if you dont have a contract im not to sure how she would stand.At the end of the day if the company have no alternative but to put you on a night shift then surely if you are unable to do that time of night then your oringinal position is now redundant?? they cant make you work nights if they then get someone to cover your old shift during the day ,maybe try Citizins advice bureau for more professionl advice
Also this link may help

http://ezinearticles.com/?Diabetes-and-Shift-Work&id=264469
 
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I hope things work out. If there is a contract your employer can change it with sufficient notice unless you have good reason not to. Please do take advice from some place like Citizens advice or do a google search for employment law.

I am also not sure how it will affect your wife if she refuses to see the occupational health advisor. Sorry that is not very positive, but I have seen folks loose their jobs because they refused to go!
 
I guess some may look at occupational health advisor as negative but the employer is covering there own back and also the employee through health and safety.All i can say is like i mentioned if your wife was to take up the night shift and then someone then did her day shift id be asking why she was took off the shift in first place, Also is your wife in a union??? seeing the rep woulde be a good idea.
 
Occupational Health will probably say she can as some Type I diabetics. However constantly changing shifts can cause major problems with control as people cannot get into a proper routine Could she perhaps alternate at say either one or two week intervals? If she is directly employed by the council or similar she may get somewhere but sadly, in my experience, many of the smaller companies that the work is outsourced to do not care about their clients let alone their staff!
 
Hi wow thanks for prompt replies, my wife does have a contract the same one she has had with the local council for many years, its just I fear what occupational might recommend? if they say she can do it and we say she cant ,they finish her and we end up in tribunal I wonder what the outcome might be.
I don?t really understand how occupational could really give an opinion, has we all know (I myself are type1 but only for last 14 years) everyone is individual, I have witnessed my wife having hypos has a direct result of this situation alone never mind actually changing lifestyle.
She has decided that no matter what she will not change her contract; we have to go to occupational health over next couple of weeks, so I will keep you all posted of the outcome.
 
Whatever the outcome we are here to support you both Dez. Hope it all goes well, wish your wife the best from us all x
 
We are all different. I saw the occupational health people because of my sick records. Occupational Health will know the type of jobs emplyers have and then see each person on an individual basis. When I saw the doctor, there were reccomendations put in place which helped me, but it all depends on each persons circumstances.

Keep us informed, I hope a suitable compromise is achived.
 
hi was your wife in a council job then re employed by another company...was she in a union ? she might get advice there ....I am pretty certain she can take someone with her for support if it goes to occupational health/ tribunal i would suggest you also get as much medical evidence that you can from your own GP/DSN/hospitial consultants to support her case. you may need legal advice so book an appointment at CAB to check original contracts etc
sadly this sort of fighting your case can take alot of frustration and energy up
so good luck x
 
Could your wife do it for a trial period and see how it goes and then if she has problems then go back to earlies only? I would think occupational health then would support her in not working them.

I work shifts, earlier, lates and nights on internal rotation, so have learnt how to manage my diabetes on all those shifts. So if she wants any tips then I would be happy to help.
 
A contract is a contract if hours are stated they cannot be changed without the agreement of both parties. However if the employer can show there is a clear business need (i.e to avoid going bump) it is better to play along and try to find a nice way such as offering to do it as a trial. refusal will mean one of two outcomes
1. the employer backs down
2. redundancy (this is the only legal way of terminating a contract) When the employee has not broken rules

Experience has told me option one is usually the first step. Then the employer will start looking closely at the employees performance.

Diabetes doesn't enter the argument unless the employee can show they are being directly discriminated against because of it. And after 22 years that argument will not stand up.
 
Occupational Health may ask to speak to your GP, and they probably should because I dont see how they could make an informed decision without speaking to someone who knows your medical history. Also if they have an sense they will take what your wife has to say onboard because no one knows their diabetes better than the person living with it.
 
Thank you for all your comments ,can I just say that has she had childhood diabetes it seems to be a very fine line of control ,the slightest change seems to have massive affect ,like if we go on holiday can be a problem I have had to call out emergency services in one or two seaside resorts ,but my point is,in my experiance I know 3 people who had childhood diabetes they all seem very prone to changes ,compared to people like myself who have developed type one later in life.
,even though she is very accomplished in her role has home support assistant and her clients adore her ,To be honest for the little money she earns it doesnt seem worth her risking her health.
I will post the outcome for future reference.
 
We attended the ocuppational health appointment and the the outcome was in our favour ,basically it would not be practical to eat a meal and take insulin in a clients house or outside ,plus the effect of working different hours.
Good news but we are now waiting to hear what the employer reaction will be.
 
Glad to hear she got a positive outcome from occupational health 🙂 I hope her employer sees sense and leaves her shifts alone.
 
Great news Dez pass on our best wishes to your wife x
 
great news ..and good luck with the rest x🙂
 
Hi,

I have been through the same situation in nursing and I did shift work. My levels were all over the place and it was really stressful on my badly managed levels at the time. After an episode of DKA I was referred to occupational health and stopped working night shifts, starting on days only.

I found the whole occupational health experience really awful- and I am glad this has not happened to you both. I hated being judged by someone who clearly didnt know much, if anything about how disbetes affects someones life or health, especially how compromising shift work can be.

Anyhow, the outcome also meant they could deduct my salary in any means under the disability at work act. So I claimed the same salary I was earning working around the clock-result.

Her employer would have to be stupid to go against medical opinion which will stand up in a court of law.

If you visit the diabetes uk website they have a lot of info on the employment law concerning people with disabilities like diabetes. The employer have to make reasonable means by law to accomodate your needs.

All the best, and welcome by the way!
 
The only time I've worked shifts has been over holidays to earn a few quid for uni and such. When I did work a 1400 - 2200 shift we were entitled to fifteen minutes break every four hours. That was enough time for me to get my tea and jabs in. I've also worked a 0600 - 1400 before. In that one there was ample time for me to get lunch and the jabs in. I've yet to work nights so those are an unknown to me.
 
Hi everyone
My Wife has just had a meeting with her employers (social services) this morning and has been told that due to her having her condition its no longer safe for her to work in the community and she is with immediate affect being moved indoors to residential work and she must work shifts, worth mentioning she had a hypo at work last Saturday the first incident she has ever had and this was due to her having the Novo virus a 3 days earlier which threw her system out.
They reasoned she would have clean environment to take insulin has for a meal she could have a snack ?and she wasnt the only one with diabetes .
So I think we are going claim constructive dismissal has she is not prepared to work residential or work shifts. Sad really 22 year career gone!
 
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